I had a good day today, but nothing jumped out for a Daily Doodle topic, so I turned to the "this day in history" to read about thimbles! Thimbles make me think of my grandma, and that makes me happy. She had a beautiful thimble collection in a case right behind her front door that shone with glory. So of course I'm going to paint a thimble.
An interesting part about today's doodle is that it's my imaginative "most expensive thimble in the world". I could find information about a jewel encrusted thimble Queen Elizabeth I gave to one of her ladies-in-waiting that sold for 18,000 pounds in 2001, but no picture... So, you're welcome for the opulence.
Early versions of thimbles have been around for 30,000 years. Excavations near Moscow produced bones used by mammoth hunters to stitch pearl embroideries onto pieces of leather. Around 10,000 years ago, pushing stones were used to push needles through leather. Around 2,500 years ago, bronze thimbles and needle pushers were used in the Mediterranean area.
As of 100 A.D. the Romans spread bronze thimbles across parts of Europe. Around 1500 the first thimble masterpieces were made in Nuremberg, Germany. Around 1700, the Dutchman John Lofting was given a patent for an "engine to make thimbles" in London beginning the thimble industry.
Do you have a digitabulist (also known as a thimble collector) in your life?
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